Does it irk anyone else that some waiter/waitress can get like 50 bucks an hour or more by just waiting tables when their job requires the same amount of education as any minimum wage job?

I consider myself reasonably intelligent, nothing special, but at least meeting the average. I've been a waiter a few times. I was not good at it at all. Maybe had I tried harder in school...

Anyway, one of my favorite past times is to go out to eat good food. I eat out frequently and visit a handful of restaurants often. Good service matters to me. I don't care what sort of education the person has I'm looking for good service. When I leave a good tip for good service I don't do it begrudgingly, I'm more than happy to pay for the service I receive. If you want Carl's Jr. quality service in a nice restaurant then let's do away with tipping and the change will happen quickly. Some people ahve what it takes to be good servers and some don't, add the tipping system and you've now added the critical component of motivation to provide good service. It's a system I'm happy for.

Waiters/Waitresses work hard but there are also plenty of jobs that work pretty hard as well. I welcome good service at a restaurant as well but I thought the reason we pay 6 bucks for a beer (halal beer of course) or 20 bucks for a meal was for the service as well. Tips used to be just extra. I just find it unfair that a waiter makes the same paycheck that someone scrubbing toilets makes in a week when they work just a night.

Is it okay to leave a smaller tip in cash (doesn't automatically get reported to the IRS) than I would if I put it on a card? My thinking is that the server is downright stupid to report their cash tips to Uncle Sam, so they actually get more of a tip if I do it in cash.

Waiters/Waitresses work hard but there are also plenty of jobs that work pretty hard as well. I welcome good service at a restaurant as well but I thought the reason we pay 6 bucks for a beer (halal beer of course) or 20 bucks for a meal was for the service as well. Tips used to be just extra. I just find it unfair that a waiter makes the same paycheck that someone scrubbing toilets makes in a week when they work just a night.

Waiters/Waitresses work hard but there are also plenty of jobs that work pretty hard as well. I welcome good service at a restaurant as well but I thought the reason we pay 6 bucks for a beer (halal beer of course) or 20 bucks for a meal was for the service as well. Tips used to be just extra. I just find it unfair that a waiter makes the same paycheck that someone scrubbing toilets makes in a week when they work just a night.

Have you ever waited tables? You don't require a degree, but you certainly need certain skills. Anyone can be shown how to scrub a toilet, net everyone is well suited to be a good server.

Toilets might be nasty, but hungry people can be even more nasty in my opinion.